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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26000770">Only Natural</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmegaZeta5/pseuds/OmegaZeta5'>OmegaZeta5</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Super Smash Brothers, The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ALttP Zelda, Angst, Eventual Sex, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post-BOTW Link, Post-BOTW Zelda(a little), Some Humor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:34:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,077</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26000770</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmegaZeta5/pseuds/OmegaZeta5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He runs from her smile until he can't anymore.<br/>Glimpses of a downward spiral.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Had this idea digging around in my head for a while now, finally slowed down enough to put it down. Please enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"There you are. I finally caught you!"</p><p>  Link hears the bright voice and immediately forgets about his coffee mug, still steaming in the morning sun on the table. No one comes to this café. Why did she come to this cafe, how did she know? He watches silently as the girl he's been avoiding makes herself at home in the seat across from him. Looking at her turns his brain around too much. He recognizes the glossy blonde hair, the pointed tip ears so similar to his own, but not the eyes. They're brilliantly blue, almost like they're shouting the fact that they're different at him.</p><p>  "Hiding in a place like this," Zelda says, playfully tapping her fingers across the tabletop as her eyes wander, "Who knew?"</p><p>  Link's knuckles are clenched tight, fists digging into his pants. He exhales almost imperceptibly through his nose and his palms are laid flat against his legs. "It's quiet," he says.</p><p>  "And you like that, don't you?" Zelda says, her eyes glittering.</p><p>  Link nods without saying anything further. Zelda's smile wavers slightly, and for a second Link regrets being so callous. Then the smile flashes stronger and she's leaning forward with her arms resting lazily on the table and his pants bundle up in his clenched fingers.</p><p>  "I'm just making the rounds, you see." She says, "I’d like to hear what everyone thinks of the flowers I picked out."</p><p>  Link swallows roughly and musters up whatever self-control he can this early morning. "The dandelions on the mantelpiece?"</p><p>  "The very same, above the fireplace." She starts fiddling with her hands and goes silent.</p><p>  "...I thought they were fine." Link's tone betrays nothing.</p><p>  Zelda searches his expression. "Truly?"</p><p>  "Yes. They’re...just flowers."</p><p>  Zelda's expression grows cheekier. "You don’t sound so certain.”</p><p>  Link frowns. He wasn't expecting her to be…pleased. “Yeah?"</p><p>  She perks up in her seat. "There it is. Don't think I haven't noticed that same little scowl when you happen to walk by them.</p><p>  "That's just my face."</p><p>  "It's a good one. Even so, it shifts just enough for someone like me to notice whenever you pass the dandelions."</p><p>  Link swallows roughly. "Hey, I didn't mean any-"</p><p>  "Oh no, please don't take me for offended!" Zelda reaches to smoothen her hair a little and dips her chin down helplessly. "To be perfectly honest, aestheticism has never been a field I'm very confident in."</p><p>  Link glances at her pretty pink-white dress, the gold tiara on her forehead with the ruby placed perfectly in the middle and the matching earrings. "Uh-huh."</p><p>  Zelda follows his gaze and bursts out laughing. There's a melodic sort of quality to it. "I'm blessed with servants savvy enough to know what makes for a good wardrobe, thankfully." She looks away bashfully. "...you must think it so strange, huh? A princess who can't pick out her own clothes?"</p><p>  “The only princesses I've ever seen that actually look like 'princesses' are the ones rooming here."</p><p>  Zelda laughs again, and Link grits his teeth at how he doesn’t hate it. She recomposes herself before continuing. "Regardless, back in Hyrule-"</p><p>  She falters. The lightness vanishes and tension drops like a rock on Link's shoulders and there's a burning desire to escape the situation in his chest. Still, he stays rooted to his seat.</p><p>  Zelda clears her throat. "-that is to say, back in my country," she clears her throat again, "there were so many times where I'd pick something out, a color for the drapes or what have you, because I liked it. Only to be rewarded with strained smiles from retainers and guests alike."</p><p>  Link frowns more openly. "That's stupid. If they're not honest around their own princess, then when?"</p><p>  Zelda waves the question away, "That's neither here nor there. I don't begrudge people for being polite."</p><p>  "If you can tell, then they're not being polite."</p><p>  Something lights up in Zelda's eyes. "How polite do you feel right now?”</p><p>  Damn.</p><p>  Zelda folds her arms and holds her chin up high as if she's made some brilliant point. Link rubs the bridge of his nose and sighs.</p><p>  "Alright, alright. There are better decorations.”</p><p>  "Oh, thank the goddess I'm not insane!" Zelda says with hands clasped.</p><p>  Link thinks to himself before speaking again. "And there are better servants to go around. Should be, at least. More honest ones."</p><p>  "I'm afraid honesty is a little hard to come by in my line of work," Zelda says, "or anywhere, it seems. Just look at how I had to drag it out of you."</p><p>  Link bites back what he really wants to say. "I'll try and be a little more forthcoming," is what comes out.</p><p>  Zelda flashes an even brighter smile at him and Link is fighting not to scowl again. "So gruff, so reserved," she teases. "I can only imagine what she has to go through dealing with you."</p><p>  The last part is rushed out, tentative and unsure. <em>She</em>. Link stiffens at the word. He shifts in his seat as he brings the mug up to his lips. The black coffee runs warm and bitter down his throat, having sat there neglected for too long now.</p><p>  "Yeah, I'm quite a handful." He deflects in as neutral a tone as he can. He has to be fair, he reminds himself. This dainty little girl in front of him didn't choose her name, did she? It's not like Link asked for there to be three of him either, yet there are.</p><p>  They aren’t really <em>him</em>, he’s quick to remind himself. Just like how this girl isn't really Zelda.</p><p>  Her expression fishes for a longer response out of him, but Link doesn't speak up again. Suddenly she sighs and makes a big show of stretching her arms as she gets up.</p><p>  "Well, I'll leave you to your drink before it chills completely," she says, her smile softening, "Perhaps...some time you can point me to more proper mantle decorations?"</p><p>  Link considers the possibility of spending more time with this Zelda and shudders. He wonders if he has a choice.  </p>
<hr/><p>  A fire crackles in the hearth, and a single purple vase filled with dim-blue flowers decorate the mantle. The lounge is cozy to a stuffy degree, walls draped in velvet and cushy couches resting on the carpet. Link started off the night standing separate from the rest of the fighters as they mingled, and hours later he still stands a ways back in a corner of the lounge. To his regret, he's not without company.</p><p>  "So there is a Death Mountain," Zelda muses as she sits and dangles her feet playfully off the pool table, "and a Kakariko."</p><p>  "Mhmm." Link murmurs with the glass to his lips. Serving milk at a party feels odd, but one of the other “him”s had insisted. Drinking it brings on a faint buzz in the head and a loosening of the shoulders. Link's on his fifth cup.</p><p>  Zelda is on her tenth. "And there are Zora as well-"</p><p>  "Not like yours, from what you told me." Link places the empty cup down next to him as he wags his finger, "Zora are good folk."</p><p>  "Right, right," Zelda hiccups, "And then there are these other races, Gorons-"</p><p>  "Yep. Real fun guys."</p><p>  "Rito-?”</p><p>  "They bleed me dry every time I visit. Air's nice there, though."</p><p>  Zelda squints as she pouts. "The topography in your time just sounds so incredibly different compared to mine."</p><p>  Link nods. "I'm a little turned around by all this too."</p><p>  More than a little, but Link keeps that to himself.</p><p>  Zelda hops off the table and taps her chin as she inspects his face. "Such a headscratcher indeed. Are you from my past or my future?"</p><p>  "Dunno. You have no idea what a camera is, that's something. Could also mean anything, though." Link masks his slight turn away from her approach with his words.</p><p>  Someone in the group laughs and the pair turn to the fireplace. They're crowded around Lucina and Little Mac locked in an arm wrestling contest, Mac oddly on the losing end of things. Kirby sleeps snugly in one of the armchairs amidst all the sudden excitement.</p><p>  "Everyone here is from a different time or place," Zelda says, "often both. Madness."</p><p>  "Think they like it like that." Link says. "The people running the show. They want it to feel fun and crazy and all that."</p><p>  Zelda sways her hips as she turns back. "It is fun, isn't it?"</p><p>  Her gaze is warm, hopeful. Link can only match it for a few seconds before he looks away again.</p><p>  "I think they got what they wanted." He deadpans. He needs another cup.</p><p>  Zelda returns her attention to the fireplace, to the flowers resting above the mantle.</p><p>  "Cannot thank you enough, by the by." She says, "Blue Nightshade, right? They're lovely."</p><p>  Link's vision clears up. "Yeah. They're shy. The color is dim, but they glow. They want to be noticed, but they're modest about it."</p><p>  Zelda cringes the longer Link talks about the flowers. "A far cry from my dandelions, I presume?"</p><p>  "There's nothing inherently wrong with dandelions. They're actually pretty nice. They pop, they're the first thing your eyes are drawn to in any given place."</p><p>  Zelda's arms loosen to her sides and she looks at Link curiously.</p><p>  Link looks past her. "They're confident, in a cheerful sort of way I guess. But take a look at the lounge."</p><p>  Zelda does so. Link observes the little shifts in her baby blues and can almost feel the wheels turn in her head.</p><p>  "It's all very subdued," Zelda decides. "The velvet of the carpet, the crushed blacks and warm browns."</p><p>  Link smiles. "Right. Now think about the dandelions, sitting on the mantle. The mantle that's positioned so it's the first thing you see when you walk through the door."</p><p>  Zelda's hair swishes around her shoulders as she faces Link, "Right!"</p><p>  She looks back and forth between him and the mantelpiece with her eyes dazzled in wonder and Link isn't as uncomfortable as he wants to be now. He decides it must be the milk, and curses whoever Romani is.</p><p>  "The Blue Nightshade isn't a hundred percent ideal," he mumbles, "But it goes better with the atmosphere."</p><p>  "How did you acquire such a keen eye for this sort of thing, doing what you do?" Zelda asks.</p><p>  Link snaps his head at that. He slowly brings himself up from his spot against the wall, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Wow."</p><p>  "Oh come now, you know I didn't mean any ill will by that!" Zelda laughs.</p><p>  "You didn't mean to ruin the atmosphere either, but..."</p><p>  She lightly smacks his shoulder. "You think yourself so clever." She rolls her eyes but she's still smiling. "Truly though, what's your secret?"</p><p>  Link runs a hand through his hair and sighs. "Honestly? It might be the cooking."</p><p>  Zelda gasps. "Cooking? You can cook!"</p><p>  "That's a whole thing on its own, but yeah. You take the time to sit down and figure out what goes with what. Think that's the pause you're trying to look for."</p><p>  It's like Zelda's seeing him for the first time. Her lips curl up as she bites lightly at her knuckle. "An adventurer <em>and </em>a chef. Hero in more ways than one."</p><p>  "I dabble."</p><p>  "Don't think you can fool me with some modesty act now. You must let me try something of yours someday, I insist."</p><p>  "I cook for me and no one else."</p><p>  She scoffs. "And this is some golden rule written in permanent ink?"</p><p>  "For me? Definitely."</p><p>  Her eyes narrow to slits as she smirks. "For me no such ink is permanent enough. You'll come around, you'll see."</p>
<hr/><p>  He sees her sometimes. He turns his head in the mess hall and she's sitting a few seats down, or he returns to his room at the end of another aimless day and she runs past him, heels squeaking against the tiles and hands locked with another one of the princesses rooming in the mansion as they both giggle and gossip their way past. She'll look at him and smile her smile and wave and he'll wave back and she'll return to whatever it is she's doing. What does she do? She talks to a lot of people. They haven't been here very long, how has she made so many friends so fast? That must be it. He's just another friend in the mansion, another acquaintance, another check off her list. Right. Good. He has nothing to worry about. Not that he ever did in the first place.</p>
<hr/><p>  Sun's too bright.</p><p>  Link sits on a stone bench in front of a glimmering pearl fountain sheltered by the trees. They’re good, full trees pocketing the green expanse around them in bunches. The breeze licks at the open cuts on his face.</p><p>  "Got him good, didn't I?" Link says, breathing and sweating. Something cold dabs at his cheeks, and a dainty hand perches on his knee.</p><p>  "I'll say," Zelda responds, her expression serious as she tends to Link with a handkerchief. "Utterly barbaric, that overgrown lizard. He hardly gave you enough time to breathe in there."</p><p>  Link laughs and the pain's sharp in his chest. "Never any time." Zelda tries rubbing away at the scorch marks on his torn up tunic as a low fire starts burning in his eyes. "It'll be easier the next match."</p><p>  Zelda huffs. "Please, you're breathing heavy enough as it is. How's your shoulder, how does it feel if I do this?"<br/>
She braces his arm with one hand and presses firmly on his shoulder blade with the other and leaves Link hissing through his teeth.</p><p>  "Utterly barbaric." Her little hands ball up into fists and she makes to get up, "I'm going to give him a piece of my mind-"</p><p>  "Hey hey hey," Link says and reaches out to her, "Don't bother, I've had worse. Hey," he speaks with a little more emphasis, "I got him, didn't I?"</p><p>  Zelda glares at him, and Link would laugh again if he had any energy left for it. "I'm sorry, did you see him stumble off the battlefield, scraped up and bloody, fighting to catch his breath?" She says, "His tactics were underhanded, devoid of honor. I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything less from a king as dastardly as he, should I?”</p><p>  "Sometimes you gotta fight dirty." Link shrugs. "Just how it is."</p><p>  Zelda shoots him one final withering look before sitting beside him, arms crossed and lip pouting. Link would worry about the proximity if he wasn't so preoccupied with the pain in his everything.</p><p>  "And you know all about fighting, don't you?" She mutters, "All the cuts and bruises and broken bones. What if something worse gets broken along the way? You don’t care."</p><p>  Zelda falls silent and Link sits up a little straighter. He opens his mouth only to shut it again. She's not like this. He doesn't know her really, sure, but she’s never like this. The breeze plucks at her hair as her shoulders rise and fall with her breaths. He can see the hint of blue in her eyes at this angle as they dart around before falling to rest at her knees.</p><p>  "Hey look, I-"</p><p>  "I should-"</p><p>  They both pause and stare at each other and then they're both laughing and it's like all the weight slips right off their backs.</p><p>  "Go ahead," Link says as he wipes some of the sweat and grime off his brow.</p><p>  "I spoke without thinking, that's not very fair is it? I'm sorry."</p><p>  "...I can't blame you," Link admits, "You're not the first princess to tell me something like that. I know how it looks."</p><p>  Zelda scoots in a little closer. "And how's that?"</p><p>  "Like I'm a little guy with a big stick, trying to show everyone how hard I can hit with it. That right?"</p><p>  She looks at him solemnly. "And how is it really?"</p><p>  Link hesitates. "I'm not sure how to put it."</p><p>  He falls silent. Zelda nudges him softly with her elbow. "It's alright. Come on."</p><p>  Link clicks his tongue and thinks for a moment. "You don't know if a thing is good or bad. So you need to be prepared in case a thing is bad so you can stop it before it does what comes naturally. And you can look at a thing and see the parts that go into it but no one's telling you how it all goes together. Or how to break it all down. You can't figure that out just from looking, not me at least. You need to get down there in the mud and dig with your hands."</p><p>  He senses her gaze and feels stupid.</p><p>  "Like a puzzle," she suddenly says, "Right?"</p><p>  He turns to her and nods. "Yeah…yeah actually, kind of like that."</p><p>  She's searching his expression again like she always does. Link realizes with a start that she's looking for something to recognize.</p><p>  "With your hands,” she muses, “I like the sound of that. That's not stupid at all, don’t ever call yourself that.”</p><p>  Link stiffens and Zelda smiles weakly. "Sorry, we're sitting so close I sometimes pick up on things without meaning to," she motions to her head, "up here."</p><p>  Mind reader. Huh. Link thinks he should be more alarmed at that fact than he is. Maybe he will be later when his head isn't so screwy.</p><p>  Zelda giggles. "Maybe so. Ugh,” she rubs at her temples and squeezes her eyes shut, “I cannot believe I was so callous. I truly hope you can forgive me."</p><p>  Link tries to smile despite his swollen bottom lip. "Nah, don't ever feel sorry for being human."</p><p>  Zelda turns away at that, gripping tightly at the hems of her skirt. For a moment they’re both silent and the air is empty save for the leaves rustling and the birds chirping and the water trickling down the fountain. Link closes his eyes and feels the warmth inherent of a person sitting so close to him and the pain seems to dull a little and he sighs.</p><p>  “Alright I’ve got it,” Zelda perks up and Link's eyes snap back open.</p><p>  “What was that?”</p><p>  A daring grin dances across Zelda's face. “Perhaps our dear kremling king won’t respond very strongly to a stern talking to. But maybe we can draw up some underhanded tactics of our own…”</p><p>  Link raises an eyebrow and lets out a questioning grunt. Zelda's hand is covering her mouth and her eyes are sparkling and suddenly she springs up to lean on his shoulder and cup a hand to his ear and she's whispering even though no one else is around to hear, least of all K. Rool. She's leaning on his bad shoulder and it aches, but he doesn’t complain.</p>
<hr/><p>  They're both good at running away. They run from the roaring koopa king chasing them through the halls with egg on his face, they run from the arwing crew carrying deathly expressions covered in party streamers, they even run from the Gerudo bandit with the bunny ears glued to his head and the curry flames roaring from his mouth. They stop to taunt him specifically a little longer, but they run nonetheless.</p><p>  The schemes are often by Zelda's design but she can't seem to nail the endings, hence the running. She can't run very fast or for very long so often times Link finds himself covering the rear, throwing remote bombs in their victims' faces as Zelda hikes up her dress and goes red in the face and laughs through her panting. The position feels familiar to Link, despite everything. It might be his favorite part of their little escapades.</p>
<hr/><p>  "You're not having fun." She says.<br/>
Link sits cross legged across from Zelda on the plush pink floor. The air is fruity and heavy and there's a multitude of heart pillows of varying size strewn about everywhere in the bedroom.</p><p>  "Just not used to this sort of thing, is all." Link says dryly. She's wearing these striped button-up flannel pajamas, and seeing her in anything but a flowing dress is throwing him a little.</p><p>  She rests her chin on her hand and leers at him. "That's fine. It's when the lights go out where the fun really starts."</p><p>  He doesn't see the big deal in pillow fights and gossip, and he wonders if this slumber party is some new variety of torture Zelda is testing out on him. He’s little more than a tag-along here, the only male one at that, so maybe he's onto something. With any luck he'll just turn in early tonight amidst the sea of stuffed hearts.</p><p>  "Link, darling!" Their host saunters into the room holding a wineglass, "you didn't even bring a blanket!"</p><p>  Link winces at Peach's shrill voice. Her satin gown is as sickeningly pink as the rest of her room, and her face is still powdered up even as the rest of her guests behind her speak in low voices as they prepare to sleep.</p><p>  "To be fair I didn't either," Zelda is quick to chime in. She shoots an apologetic look at Link. Right. Play nice.</p><p>  Peach lets out an exasperated sigh. "Well this just won't do, I won't have any of my guests sleeping on the bare carpet like some common servants, least of all my best friend I simply can't!" She wags her finger in the air and nods with closed eyes, "I'll send for someone to fetch us the proper sleeping arrangements right this instant-"</p><p>  "Or," Link says as he makes to get up, "I can just run over to my room and back real quick."</p><p>  He can catch a few breaths of fresh air too, before spending the rest of the night in this suffocating room.</p><p>  "I'll come with," Zelda announces and suddenly she's right next to him, "Our apartments are right next to each other, after all."</p><p>  Something in Peach shifts. "Oh, I see." She draws her words out slowly and fixes them with a gaze that makes Link’s stomach churn.</p><p>  Zelda blinks. "I beg your pardon, my good friend?"</p><p>  "Oh don't mind me," Peach sighs as she stirs her drink. "Just don't be too long, you two." She winks and Link is already striding away as Zelda blubbers behind him.</p><p>  The hall is a dim orange glow and their steps echo throughout. Zelda is silent. The patter of her bare feet against the tiles are almost drowned out by his painfully loud plodding. They're both walking fast.</p><p>  Her shoulder brushes against his and her breath sharpens with a "Sorry!." They both move away.</p><p>  Almost there. But then there's the walk back.</p><p>  "You know how Peach is," Zelda stammers.</p><p>  "I do."</p><p>  "I wouldn't put any stock in the things she says."</p><p>  "I don't."</p><p>  Their briskly paced shapes cast faint shadows on the sheen of the tile floor. Link looks straight ahead.</p><p>  "She's a very excitable person. Things just spill out of her mouth sometimes."</p><p>  "I noticed."</p><p>  Finally they're here. Link's pace quickly reveals his urgency as he strides through his room and flicks on the lamplight in one smooth motion and it casts shadows over his unmade bed and his various weapons and trinkets strewn about all over the floor. He'd left the window open earlier and now the curtains gently flap as faint stars glimmer in the black ink of the sky.</p><p>  There it is. He grabs the sheikah slate from beneath the sheets and turns around to see Zelda standing in his doorway and hugging a bundle of blankets to her chest. She's never seen his room before.</p><p>  "Found it," Link says dumbly and he only then notices the absolute state he’s left his room in. His jaw clenches in anticipation of a reaction he's sure is coming.</p><p>  Zelda nods and walks expressionlessly past him, stepping over the pot lids and shields further into his room. She silently inspects the great stone club lying against his cabinet and the claymore stuck beneath his closet doorframe like some oversized letter opener and there's a burning sensation on Link's cheeks that he’s not familiar with.</p><p>  "It's neater than mine," Zelda huffs. "Frankly, I'm a little embarrassed."</p><p>  Huh. "If this is neat I'd hate to see messy."</p><p>  Zelda rolls her eyes in an affectionate manner. "I live in a world of powdered faces and empty smiles. I'd like to think I'm allowed some reprieve."</p><p>  Link exhales slowly and opens his mouth to suggest they start the walk back, but Zelda's gaze grows inquisitive again and suddenly she's striding over to his bedside table. Link sees her pick up the framed photo and his hair stands on end.</p><p>  The girl in the photo standing in a golden plain is all in blue save for the black of her traveler's pants. Her hair is a brilliant, golden blonde that's cleaner than his, cut short in a way that frames her soft face perfectly. Her eyes are green and there's something eternally sad in them.</p><p>  "Funny. I actually took that the day before I got here." Link's throat is dry.</p><p>  Zelda doesn’t seem to have heard him. She runs a gentle thumb over the girl's face and pulls the frame closer as the lamp's light reflects a sheen off her big blue eyes.</p><p>  "She's beautiful."</p><p>  Her tone is ambiguous, it frustrates him. Then his gaze flits down and sees green eyes, and the tension that was building in his body throughout the entire night seems to just deflate out of him. This tends to happen whenever he thinks of the girl in the photo.</p><p>  "Yeah, she is."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zelda asks about her constantly.</p><p>  He'd tell Zelda about how he was conscripted into being one of <em>her</em> Champions, being the only boy who could draw the Sword. He'd tell her about how he'd acted as <em>her</em> personal bodyguard right up to Ganon's awakening. He wasn’t there for the hundred years that followed. Moving on to tell Zelda about his return and Ganon’s defeat is the easiest part to talk about.</p><p>  "So it's all gone now?" She'd asked the first time he told her about the calamity.</p><p>  "Everything except her," he'd said. And despite his reservations he can't help adding, "I'm glad for that."</p><p>  Zelda's chin trembled and she didn't say anything and just leant on his shoulder while stroking his back. Link had only been able to bear through it for a few minutes before tearing himself away.</p><p>  Now she follows him everywhere. It feels like they spend every waking moment together and Link sees the looks the other fighters shoot him and he kicks himself for it every time.</p><p>  They're sitting in the cafe when Zelda asks for another story. Her arm brushes against his and she’s imploring him with her smile and her nose seems to almost touch his and she doesn't notice and Link’s toes curl as he bites the inside of his cheek so hard it’s a wonder how he doesn’t taste blood.</p><p>  "What about you? What's he like?" He blurts out.</p><p>  Zelda recoils and Link sighs under his breath.</p><p>  "...<em>he</em>?" Her voice is smaller.</p><p>  "Yeah. You know."</p><p>  She blinks, her hands falling to her sides as her eyes wander. She flashes a smile that seems just a little strained. "Well, he was incredible of course. It...in all honesty it felt like I was waiting to die, sitting there in the dark waiting for the dark wizard to do what he wanted with me."</p><p>  "Dark wizard?"</p><p>  Zelda nods as if it’s an obvious thing. "I called out and I wasn't sure if anyone would answer. Yet almost immediately he did."</p><p>  The life leaves her voice the longer she goes on.</p><p>  "He'd take everything meant for me, as I showed him the way out of that death-trap of a castle. Every sword and lance and arrow and bite, he'd take for me unfailingly and without question. He didn't deserve it, no one did. He was just a boy. But he'd just turn to me with that scowl on his face whenever I'd try to tend to his wounds, and he'd just grab my hand and lead me closer into the light. He was the most wonderful boy there ever was," Zelda's nose twitches, "and could ever be. I knew from the moment I first saw him that everything would be ok. And they were.”</p><p>  “I was with him every step of the way on the rest of his journey, up here." She taps the side of her head. “He became more than my knight, he was my best friend. And I was there with him at the end, in mind and body, when evil finally fell and the sun shined bright.”</p><p>  Link’s eyebrows draw together despite himself. “You talk like he’s not around anymore.”</p><p>  Zelda lowers her gaze, down to her hands lying flat and dead in her lap and everything falls into place.  </p><p>  "I don't begrudge him at all for leaving, understand. This is the way of things. He answers a call none else can hear, and when I wished the best for him I meant it. But he set sail for those open waters and I never saw him again."</p><p>  "Sometimes I," she laughs again in a way that's just not her, so unsure and withdrawn and afraid that Link has to fight to remain silent, "this is absurd. But I often wonder where he is, and where he has been. So much so that whenever I dream, I dream of him and I can do nothing save wake up in the dead of night unable to close my eyes again. Wherever he is, I'm sure he's accomplishing fine works."</p><p>  He shouldn’t have asked her this. He shouldn’t have but he did and he kicks himself for it. He’s doing that a lot lately.</p><p>  "Zelda?" Link says after a while.</p><p>  "Mm?"</p><p>  "Come with me. I'll cook you something."</p><p>  She wipes away at her eyes, smiling. "Very well."</p><hr/><p>  He thinks about her a lot. Not <em>her</em>, her. He sees a thing she might like and he leaves it at her doorstep in the mornings, he uncovers some new tactic while sparring with someone else in the training room and he makes a note of it to tell her later. He'll show up to one of the girl's doors since she's friends with all of them just to check if she's there, since when left to his own devices all he does is think about her clinging to herself at that table with tears in her eyes and how wrong that image feels.</p><p>  He's lying his head in her lap one day, and she's running her fingers slowly through his hair as she leafs through a booklet on flower language he found for her and he's shivering from the touch. His eyes clench tightly shut.</p><p>  This is what he does, right? He helps her. He's just swapped one ‘her’ for another.</p><hr/><p>  Link opens his eyes and sees a girl with emerald green eyes. He smiles at <em>her</em>, full and warm. Her’s is smaller, restrained by the sadness in her eyes. It's when the girl grasps his hand in hers and leads him up the stairs that Link realizes he's dreaming. It's the day before he left for the tournament and <em>she's</em> leading him into her bedroom and he remembers vividly what happens next. <em>She</em> peers down at him with a vulnerable gaze, he's drawing a lazy hand from her bare chest down to where her stomach meets her pelvis. Dim candlelight makes shadows dance across the fullness of her breasts and the light fuzz on her skin. He touches her in that familiar way and she gasps with her face scrunched up in tenderness and he's rising up to meet her and she's holding him so gently. It is a steady and constant rhythm they work in, one they know all too well by this point and each thrust sends a slow, gentle rhythm into her. He hunts for the green of her eyes but she looks away. She always does.  </p><p>  The sheer darkness of Link’s apartment leaves him disoriented. He blinks calmly as his vision adjusts to his surroundings. It's the first time since he's gotten here that he's dreamed of <em>her</em>. He frowns. It's the first time he's dreamed of anything in a long, long time. He waits for the thump of his heart to fade before sitting up, only for a new wave of dizziness to send him falling back onto the bed. He waits for it to subside and in doing so detects the underlying unease within himself. Where has he felt like this before? He goes to pull back the curtains and let a draft in.</p><p>  Right. This is what it felt like camping across Hyrule. Faced with monsters that very much wanted to see him dead, he'd sleep very light and every morning he'd wake to that paranoia of being watched. That paranoia often proved to have some basis in some way or another. Link drops on the edge of his bed, swallowing dryly and grimacing at the rotten taste on his tongue. He thinks for a while. The trees outside rustle in the midnight wind and he rubs at his eyes.</p><p>  He stiffens and turns sharply to the wall directly adjoined to his neighboring apartment.</p><p>  His ears strain to make out any noise, anything at all. Crickets chirp outside. He hesitantly lies back down and faces the wall with a telepath on the other side. A telepath who may or may not be awake right now. A particularly cold breeze flaps the curtains and pricks at his skin like needles. He sighs before turning around and pulling the sheets up around him, finally closing his eyes. He manages to keep them closed for a few minutes before he sluggishly opens them again, on the verge of returning to his slumber.</p><p>  "G’night." He says, bleary-eyed to no one. He's gone before he’s able to register his own words.   </p><hr/><p>  "No more sweets."</p><p>  Link says this without tearing his eyes away from the open sea ahead of him. Zelda raises her head up from the mountain of cotton candy she's holding. She’s frazzled, her lips stained a deep purple.</p><p>  "Pardon?"</p><p>  It's a little hard to hear each other over the shouts of festivity and music. Brightly candy cane-colored tents pocket the great white expanse of the beach and a ferris wheel towers over everything. Link shades his gaze from the hot sun.</p><p>  "You barely keep up with our slowest guys as is. You need stuff that'll help you build stamina, not...that." Link looks pointedly at the sugary mess in Zelda's hands.</p><p>  "I see. You want a taste?" She winks.</p><p>  "I really, really don't." Link says and the glint of sunlight off the crystal-clear water catches his eye again. It's getting harder to ignore, but Zelda's presence seemed to demand his attention and he supposes he felt obliged to concede it to her. He supposes it doesn’t matter whether he concedes it or not. She can just waltz in whenever she pleases. That’s not fair. It was the dead of night, her mind probably just drifted off a little. Supposing what he thought happened really did happen. Just a fluke. A little peek. Huh. It really isn’t something she’s meant to see, in more ways than one. They’re not meant to stand here side by side either, but they are. They aren’t meant to break bread with the likes of Ganondorf or Sheik, but they do. Zelda saw what she saw that night. She had to have. And supposing it was an accident, anyone with the least bit of curiosity would stick around. Zelda is an extremely curious individual.</p><p>  He’s done with this topic.  </p><p>  "Very well, I suppose I’ll have to take your advice into consideration," Zelda says without giving any indication if she’s aware of how Link's stiffened so resolutely, “Anywho, I believe the next destination on our list is that delightful-looking game named volleyb-"</p><p>  Link pulls his tunic up and over his head, his undershirt quickly following suit. They crumple lifelessly amongst the blanket of near-white sand.  </p><p>  "What're you-?" She asks.</p><p>  "Swimming." Link says as he focuses on shaking out of his pants.</p><p>  Zelda’s lips open and close like a dying fish. "I, mm, oh I- I see-"</p><p>  Link is left in nothing but his trunks, a bleached tan. He digs his toes into the searing sand and holds the Sheikah Slate out to her, only faltering when he sees the deepening flush on her strained expression.</p><p>  "Sorry, you mind holding onto this?" He says blankly.</p><p>  Zelda's eyes flit over to Link before looking away just as quickly. "Not at all." She gingerly grabs the device without looking.</p><p>  "Thanks."</p><p>  He eventually breaks through the waves of vigorous splashing and ball games and fighters lounging atop their floats. He drifts out to where the sea is calmer, the cold at his back and the sun at his front making for a refreshing experience. Link stares at the sea above where stars still twinkle in the hot sun with a pale moon pleasantly in view and he just breathes in the fresh air.</p><p>  What a strange place. Strange people. It was fun at first. Getting in the mud, using his hands. At least this is the same. There's always been something in the water for him. The pretty Zora girl who used to play with him in the lakes and rivers as a boy. That might be it. Her voice isn't there anymore. It was, but now it isn't. None of them are. Maybe they still had things left to say. He wishes he could hear one of them now.</p><p>  The girl in the photo. He left <em>her</em> over there in that other place, that other time but he still hears her voice, loud and wonderful in his head. Chastising him, dissecting him, whispering to him, weeping for him. It's so distinctly her. That might go too at some point. Sometimes he thinks and he sees blue eyes instead of green and he has to reach for the picture frame. Maybe this tournament will end soon. Blue eyes. Maybe it shouldn't. That's enough swimming for now.</p><p>  He's stumbling back onto the sand, still deeper in thought than he'd like to be and his skin glistening in the summery air when he spots her bobbing excitedly with another girl friend of hers. She grips snugly onto a flowing plush robe she didn't have on before, draped over her shoulders and deep red like blood seeping through the sand. She spots him and her eyes sparkle as she waves him over.</p><p>  "Having a lot of fun, are we?" She says, showing no signs of her previously nervous state.</p><p>  "Sorry for just up and leaving like that."</p><p>  "Oh please, we've both done far worse to others here," She laughs. Something in her gaze feels different and Link becomes more acutely aware of just how much of him she can see.</p><p>  "It’s good seeing you let go like this," she decides matter-of-factly, "You're always so serious, you know?"</p><p>  "I'm a serious guy."</p><p>  Her hand goes up over her lips. "You look like just another boy now."</p><p>  "In that case I guess another boy can assist with switching up Robin's tomes tomorrow..."</p><p>  She shoves him, shaking her head. "Oh, before I forget, I left the slate with the rest of Palu's things, I hope that's alright?"</p><p>  They chat aimlessly for a short while longer before the goddess herself calls Zelda over. It seems she’s waiting for her with a small group of her other friends.</p><p>  Zelda's facing them, away from Link as she waves. "My apologies, it seems I've let time get away from me a little!" She says before she purposefully shucks her robe off in one smooth motion.</p><p>  Link's eyes catch the fabric sliding down her bare shoulders and the sun glinting off the skin of her back before his throat seizes up and he looks off just to the right of Zelda's face. All he can make out now in his periphery is the pure white of her two-piece and the way she stands there, shoulders raised and head shifting slightly as if anticipating what he might do or say.</p><p>  He manages to train his eyes on Zelda's face. She seems satisfied with his.</p><p>  "Ta-ta!" She flashes him another, smaller smile before racing across the beach to join her friends.</p><p>  Link's hands clench into fists. He turns back to the water, golden in the afternoon sun. Something in it's tainted now.</p><hr/><p>  Moonlight filters through the window. His sheets cast aside, it’s a hot night. The ceiling is a mess of grain and static as his eyes adjust to the darkness. His head aches as it sinks into the pillow.</p><p>  “You want to watch again?” He asks quietly.</p><p>  Nothing. His heart pounds in his eardrums. The sliver of moonlight trickles through the window. Then it’s like a gentle wave washes over his whole body and his hair stands on end. Link blinks, sighing at the sensation.</p><p>  “Alright,” Link says numbly as he wills his eyes shut, “Watch as long as you like.”</p><hr/><p>  The flowers are wilting and the fire is roaring. Link sits in an armchair scrolling through his various recipes when Zelda asks him again, chin perched on his shoulder.</p><p>  "What's she like?" She says. Link can feel the soft exhale through her nose on his cheek. It tickles.</p><p>  "It doesn't...bother you?" He asks in vain.</p><p>  She turns and all of Link's vision to his left is engulfed by blonde bangs and blue eyes. She studies him for a moment, expressionless.</p><p>  "Not as much as it bothers you."</p><p>  Link fixes his gaze at the Slate on his lap. He runs a nervous thumb over the screen as he searches his mind for an excuse that doesn’t exist.</p><p>  She tugs lightly at his sleeve. "Come now," she whispers so softly, "tell me of this girl who shares my name."</p><p>  "....She's smart. Too smart, really. Drop a problem in front of her and she draws up theories and equations from two nights before you showed it to her. Guess she's really curious too, then. It's not enough for a thing to just be, she has to know how and why it came to be that way." <br/>Link darts his gaze to Zelda before looking down again.</p><p>  "You're a little like her, that way." He continues and sees her controlled enthusiasm out the corner of his eye. "It upsets her though. That compulsion. She thinks it's unbecoming. Something to hide away so she can focus on her other job."</p><p>  "She sounds as beautiful as she appears," Zelda says encouragingly. Link’s jaw tightens.</p><p>  "It bugs me though. I know why she's like that. She loves doing what she does but it kills her. She knows she's allowed to be human, but she doesn't understand it.”</p><p>  He drops the slate to his side and stares into the fire. “She thinks she has to live up to the expectations of ghosts. She denies it, but I see her when she thinks I'm not looking. I know she thinks she could have done things different. I know how much it eats her up inside. I know she's wrong."</p><p>  Zelda seems to take his bitterness into herself. She's kneeling as she leans over the side of the chair, her head resting in the nook of his resting arm as she gazes into the fire.</p><p>  "How do you know all of that, if she won't tell you?" She says and the emotion in her quiet voice stirs what’s already there in Link.</p><p>  "Because I'm the one who left her all alone."</p><p>  "That wasn't your choice."</p><p>  "One hundred years. I wasn't strong enough and one hundred years was the price she had to pay. She didn’t deserve that. I'm the one who failed my duty."</p><p>  "You’re wrong."</p><p>  "I don't care."</p><p>  Zelda flinches at his voice. Then she frowns and she’s snuggling deeper against his arm, her fingers gently stroking over his hand. Link silently pleads with whatever goddess can hear him. The fire crackles and neither of them say anything for a long time.</p><p>  "You know what they say about us, right?" Zelda says quietly.</p><p>  "Yes." Link's voice sounds lifeless to himself.</p><p>  "It's awful." Zelda says and the frustration in her is palpable, "I hate it. That I must second-guess everything I say or do because of the pre-conceived notions of others. That I cannot greet a true friend with a smile, or whisper a joke in his ear or console him when he's troubled."</p><p>  Her fingers swirl delicate circles over his knuckles. Link stares straight ahead.</p><p>  "And to think that I would be capable or willing to destroy something beautiful, such as the bond you both share. The thought is disgusting."</p><p>  Her voice wavers almost imperceptibly. Her fingers tremble just slightly.</p><p>  "You believe me, don't you?" She says.</p><p>  Silence. Zelda's motions stop and she seems to hold her breath.</p><p>  "Of course."</p><p>  Zelda scans his expression before raising her eyes to the flowers on the mantel. "Good. I'm glad."</p><hr/><p>  "He seems angrier than usual." Zelda pants as she dashes through the garden.</p><p>  Link opens his mouth but then Ridley lets loose another earth-shattering screech and he decides whatever quip he has in mind isn't worth expressing right now. They sprint and the air is thick with the scent of flowers crunching beneath their feet with the warm afternoon sun at their backs.</p><p>  The flap of hellish wings grows louder and Link haphazardly tosses a remote bomb behind him without looking. Another loud screech and the wing flaps start to echo a little further behind just as he and Zelda turn a corner and face a solid brick wall.</p><p>  Zelda braces herself on her knees. Her pink dress is muddy and she's missing an earing. "Alright, now seems as good a time as any," she says through hard breaths.</p><p>  "Hold on." Link unclips the sheikah slate from his belt and holds it up in anticipation. Zelda sees his motion and her gaze turns terrified.</p><p>  "No, we don't have enough time!"</p><p>  Link stares intently at the corner they just turned around as the wings beat closer. "On my mark." He zooms the lense in just slightly and he glances as she weaves her hands through the air and the magic starts and the knight falls into place, one solid piece at a time until its big and grounded behind her with the cleaver of a sword raised at the ready. It’s whenever she gets this steely look in her eye that Link’s heart really starts pumping.</p><p>  The space pirate himself turns the corner with another unholy shriek, followed suit by the true terror. Link snaps photos at a rapid pace as dozens of cuccos with brilliant white plumage utterly swarm Ridley, the air a cacophony of clucks and screeches and a whirlwind of white plumage sticking to everything.  </p><p>  "Now!?"</p><p>  "Now!"</p><p>  Link yells and the phantom knight shoots forward, cracking the dragon across the face and sending him careening back with his wings snapping back and sucking all the air out of the space with him. Zelda grabs at his sleeve and suddenly all the wind rushes back into them and his whole world flashes in green. Link's vision doubles as his stomach lurches and just like that the green fades and the pair are in a completely different part of the mansion. He recognizes the spiral staircase to his left and the narrow hallway in front of him as being somewhere in the west wing.</p><p>  Link lets out a controlled and deep exhale through his nose, regaining his balance as Zelda's exhausted panting slowly turns into relieved laughter. She stumbles into him and threatens to throw him off balance all over again as she steadies herself on his chest with her palm. Link's back thuds gently against the wall and he grins openly.</p><p>  Zelda leans in to inspect his handiwork. "These may collectively be your magnum opus," she breathes as she scrolls through the photos.</p><p>  "Almost worth dying a senseless and painful death, huh?" Link says with increased wooziness. The pump of his heart reverberates through her arm pressing into his chest.</p><p>  "Definitely," Zelda beams.</p><p>  Her hand swiping through pictures brushes his holding the slate more than once. Link's shoulders sag and his chin dips until it rests atop Zelda's head. Her hand slows until it comes to rest over his and she squeezes it. His eyes begin to sag; it's been a long day hasn't it? She smells like lilacs. He's nuzzling her head through her hair and he doesn't really notice until she makes a pleasurable sound in her throat. She twists around in his embrace and her cheek lazily drags against his as she does so. She's warm. All Link sees is blue and her small breathes make his wet lips tingle.</p><p>  She blinks when she kisses him. It's such a fast, darting sort of peck at the corner of his lips that Link almost isn't sure it even happened. Her arms wiggle out from against his chest and her fingers grasp to pull at the back of his neck and her eyes are pouring into his when she leans in again, this time to brush her lips against his other cheekbone. Link's shoulders continue to sag and he sighs as Zelda's kisses are suddenly at his eyelids, the indent of his nose then his chin then peppering down the hard line of his jaw. Her breaths come small and fast as she works him, chipping away at more of him. He exhales with a deep hum and she answers with one of her own. The tones compliment each other nicely.</p><p>  The slate clatters forgotten against the tiles and Zelda jumps. Link's eyes are wide open when he presses her back and his hands are running over the bare skin of her arms, up her shoulders. His calluses are rough and scratchy against the plumpness of her cheeks, the tickle of her eyelashes as they flutter shut, the glossiness of her hair silky and flowing. He could get lost in that platinum river. It shines brilliantly through the filtered light of a dying day and then they're under the staircase and Link can just barely make out the glint of her eyes. His thumbs drag at her lips and he's cupping her face in his hands when he leans in to taste them. Her hands reach to squeeze encouragingly at his wrists and then the length of her is going lax in his grip, her body crushed against his as he bends over her. He's seeing more of her in the dark now and they shift so that another flash of light through the staircase washes over her. The cobalt blue of her eyes glitter for a second and they’re almost green.  </p><p>  Link tears himself away as a feeling like ice washes over him. Zelda's eyes are dazed until Link licks his lips and suddenly they're focused again and she pulls at his wrists. He finally catches her gaze with his own and that's when she stops.</p><p>  "Oh. Oh no."</p><p>  Link remains silent as he stumbles back. His hands are shaking. Zelda’s eyes flit down and she’s shaking too. She takes a timid step forward and like that, Link is gone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Part 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>We get a little explicit here.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Looking a little gloomy today, pal.”</p><p>  Link blinks, the pale light filtering through the glass pane. Ren doesn’t usually stop to chat. Maybe it’s because he’s sitting right up front this morning, in one of the stools.  </p><p>  “Not intentionally,” Link says as the bartender leans back against the counter.</p><p>  “We don’t often do things intentionally, do we?” Ren says and adjusts his glasses. He wipes his hands on his apron before casually resting them on the countertop. “I’ll fix you another cup. My treat.”</p><p>  Link nods absently. He’s the only customer here, as is often the case at this time. Ren slides the mug down to where Link catches it.</p><p>  “It’s a girl, isn’t it?” Ren says smoothly and Link is glad he’s only just caught the mug because he might have dropped it otherwise.</p><p>  He shoots an inquisitive look and Ren just shrugs. “I’d say I know the look, but really everyone knows.”</p><p>  Link focuses on the coffee in front of him, the pitch-black surface tremoring before it stills perfectly. He rolls his jaw around for a bit before speaking. “You have a lot of experience in this sort of thing?”</p><p>  The light refracts off Ren’s glasses. “I don’t like to brag.”</p><p>  “…I’m close. We’re both so close to just…” Link clears his throat and falls silent.</p><p>  Ren’s ambiguous stare penetrates him. “How far have you gone?”</p><p>  “Nothing we can’t walk back.”</p><p>  “But?”</p><p>  Link just shakes his head. Ren stares at him a moment longer.</p><p>  “You’re not horrible for giving someone what they want. Especially if it’s someone you care about.”</p><p>  “It’s…not my place to give.” Link grimaces before downing half of the mug in one big gulp. The liquid burns his tongue down his throat and the sensation grounds him a little. </p><p>  “But is it what you want?” Ren leans in inquisitively with perfect poise.</p><p>  “I can’t ‘want’ her. I’m not even supposed to know her.”</p><p>  “None of us are supposed to know each other, that’s the beauty of it. It’s also something you can’t help.” A faint smile tugs at the corners of Ren’s lips. “We really don’t do these things intentionally.”</p><p>  “…What should I do next?”</p><p>  Ren sighs as he takes the half-finished mug. “I can’t answer that, I’m just a part-timer. But…” He pauses as if considering his choice of words. “I see the way she looks at you. I wouldn’t have the heart to keep a girl like that hanging.”</p><p>  Link sits there for most of the day.</p><hr/><p>  Quiet. When Link came here everything was quiet, then it all seemed to fill with this beautiful noise and now it’s quiet again. There’s no tap of heels dancing through the mansion, no laughter, no schemes. In their place are hushed whispers and side-glances and his boots clunking across the floor with the dead weight in his chest. He urges it to feel heavier.</p><hr/><p>  He brings the tainted liquid up to his lips in a bottle he’s already lost count of. The fire crackles dark red and flickers shadows across the entirety of the lounge as a downpour of rain hammers away at the windowpanes and Link thinks he can hear a faint rumble every now and then. The last of the milk trickles down his throat and he grits his teeth. Even with a bottle as big as this the focus comes back too fast. The sheer emptiness of the room settles deep inside Link. No one really comes around to this side of the mansion these days. He drops the now empty milk bottle along all the others and goes to grab a fresh one.</p><p>  “My apologies. I don’t mean to disturb you.” Says the small, all too familiar voice and something like a crushing defeat bears down in Link’s chest.</p><p>  He casts an ominous look in her direction as he brings the bottle up to his lips.</p><p>  “I only came to…to dispose of the decorations.” She says and he feels the shadows twist as she makes her way to the mantlepiece. “No one’s tended to them in a while. They’ve suffered too long.”</p><p>  Link scoffs, making his way over to an armchair and collapsing in it. Zelda seems to freeze in his periphery, but he’s already putting the bottle to his lips again.</p><p>  “….did you drink all of these?” she asks quietly. Link just kicks one of the empty ones in response and it rolls down the carpet until it hits the hearth’s stone base. He barks out a bitter laugh at nothing and something lurches in his throat and he bites back the bile.</p><p>  “You know what these are, correct?” Her tone is clearer and commands him to look at her, but she fails to mask the concern in it and Link makes a disgusted expression. She’s almost nothing but shapes, head of gold atop a slender form in his bleary eyes and standing so close to the fire as she holds the vase to her stomach.</p><p>  “It’s good.” he slurs.</p><p>  “It’s too much.” She pauses and he can feel her eyes on him, pitying him, worrying over him and he hates how good it feels. “…please go to bed, Link.”</p><p>  “I’m fine.”</p><p>  The vase is back up on the mantle and suddenly she’s hovering over him, the bottle in her fingers instead of his. He can see the anger clear in her eyes and it bolsters his own.</p><p>  “Go to bed.” She says flatly.</p><p>  Link raises a groping hand. She easily pulls it further out of his reach.</p><p>  “Give it back.”</p><p>  She’s resolutely silent and he reaches again, forcing her to step back as he stumbles to his feet. He takes a single step forward and the room swirls around him for a moment.</p><p>  “I’m serious,” he threatens again after he finds his balance.</p><p>  “I’m serious too. This isn’t yours to take in the first place-“</p><p>  “Nothing is. Guess I forgot.”</p><p>  “Link…” she pleads but he stops listening.</p><p>  “That’s all I do. Forget.” The focus is coming back the more he does or says and he hates it, “I ‘forgot’ my duty and the world ended, and here I go ‘forgetting’ again. Not every day you see your world end twice, huh?”</p><p>  “Don’t act as if this is all your doing,” she says, her chin trembling as she glares at him and a flash of lightning illuminates her face so that for a second she’s almost a ghost. “Don’t be so arrogant.”</p><p>  His head is throbbing and he welcomes it. “I’m not supposed to blame you for things. That’s not how this works.”</p><p>  “Because I’m some fragile, helpless thing, is that it? Spare me. I knew what might happen, I am not so naïve as to not consider every possibility.”</p><p>  Link grins harshly, straining the muscles in his face, “Thank you for being so considerate.”</p><p>  “But I-“ a shudder passes through Zelda’s whole body, “This is a good place, meant for good things and good people. I didn’t think something so-“ she sighs sharply and faces the fire.</p><p>  “So?” Link says louder, glaring knives at her, “So what? Is that what you’d tell yourself whenever you’d corner me, batting your lashes every other minute, whispering in my ear every other second? You’re too much, you’re-“ his words almost slur into a mess and he stops to breath.</p><p>  She doesn’t face him. “You wanted it.” Her voice is hoarse, spiteful. </p><p>  “…What.”</p><p>  “Someone let me in. That night. Someone called out to me. You wanted it, you wanted me to-“</p><p>  “Don’t.”</p><p>  “Tell me I’m wrong.” </p><p>  There is no answer. Zelda fiddles with her hands and falls silent.</p><p>  “Whatever you do,” Link says after a pause, “Whatever Zelda does. I’m supposed to keep <em>her</em> safe. To keep you happy.” He stares to his right, at the shroud of blackness outside the windowpane that seems to swallow them whole in it. “I failed both of you.”</p><p>  Zelda turns. “No,” she breathes, “No you haven’t.”</p><p>  “Won’t be long now,” Link mutters, “A few more years and the last of the old things will die and there won’t be much of anything left for her. Except me. All that pain, all that suffering. Just so she can lose me to another her.”</p><p>  “Please,” Zelda clasps his hands in hers and her gaze is so tender it churns his stomach, “Please don’t say such things. After everything you’ve been through- you did everything right. Do not say even jokingly that you were a mistake.”</p><p>  Link raises his gaze to the ceiling, clenching his jaw as he does so.</p><p>  Zelda's eyes are wet. “I should not have done this. Spoken to you like this. Things were getting better when we stopped existing to each other. I can leave this lounge right now and you will never speak with me again for the rest of the tournament.”</p><p>  “You can’t guarantee that.”</p><p>  “I absolutely can.”</p><p>  “…I can’t guarantee that.”</p><p>  Her chest heaves. “Please. I can’t be this. Please, I can’t be the ruination of another.”</p><p>  His silence draws another shuddering breath out of Zelda, and she lets his hands slide out from under hers.</p><p>  “Just as well, I suppose. This selfish heart of mine. Repulsive.”</p><p>  She spits the word with such contempt it forces Link to look at her. “You’re not.”</p><p>  She casts her gaze down, her chin trembling. “I want. Every waking moment, I want and I want and no matter what I do or say I cannot stop chasing after a memory. Others tell me I am good and just and I was so eager to believe them. How ‘good’ and ‘just’ have I been to you? Stupid. Ugly. It is an ugly, evil thing for someone like me to want so terribly.”</p><p>  Her words strike like a burning knife in Link’s chest and the rumbling outside surges into a roar. “Zelda…"</p><p>  “I don’t deserve to want. I don’t deserve this, you, this place filled with good things and good people. I destroy. I lead them astray-”</p><p>  “Stop.”</p><p>  “I don’t deserve to be. He shouldn’t have heard me. He shouldn’t have listened to me when I called to him, he should have turned away, he shouldn’t have saved me, he, h-he-“ she sniffles to a stop as Link pulls her into a rough embrace and he almost falls as the roar fades into rain pelting against glass.</p><p>  She buries her face in his tunic, shaking so badly he thinks she’ll shatter in his arms as he strokes with numbed fingers through the river of her hair, the motion so sickeningly familiar, the blue of his tunic bunched up between her fingers. They’re the same height but she’s so small here. Nothing is how it should be. How should it be? He doesn’t know. She's trembling. He doesn’t know.</p><p>  “You’re not a mistake.” he tries, “If I can’t be one, then…” She lets out another miserable, pathetic sob and Link’s words strangle in his throat and his eyes clench so tightly he sees spots and he fights so, so hard. It’s the hardest fight he’s ever had and he’s kicking and screaming in his head with his body gone utterly rigid. He doesn’t notice her arms wriggling out of his grip until they snake around under his own, hands caressing and soothing gently between his shoulder blades even as she struggles and breathes shakily through her nose. Link’s eyes shoot open and he feels that last bit of himself slip between his fingers and the screams die in the fog that swallows them whole.</p><p>  He lifts her chin up and she slows her ministrations to a stop, staring at him wide and doe-like. Her breath hitches as his lips envelop hers and then she’s frozen in his hands, as if waiting for permission. He deepens the kiss, gently parting her lips with his tongue and then slowly but surely her fingers are there, tangling in his hair. Her moan drowns in the kiss, muted and far away and then she closes her eyes and her grip tightens and he pushes forward.</p><hr/><p>  They breathe ragged and heavy as he slams the door behind them. She’s palming every inch of his body she can reach, desperate movements as he tastes her on his tongue. She struggles to lift his shirt and he obliges her, and they’re on each other again before the shirt hits the floor. It’s quickly followed suit by the thud of a golden waistbelt, earrings in the form of the holy symbol, a glittering tiara made heavy by the blood-red ruby in its center. His hands are running down the length of her arms and he revels in the gooseflesh and she whimpers when he tears the dress from her shoulders down to her feet, leaving her in nothing but the lace-white of her undergarments. Squatted down there he sees the expanse of her leg, golden and magnificent in the lamplight and Zelda shivers under his gaze. She’s so perfectly smooth, not a hint of fuzz to be found. Goddesses.</p><p>  He’s open-mouthed against her skin, tongue lolled out and dragging as he breathes hotly against the wet trail he’s leaving and she’s grabbing desperately at his head, begging him up. His hands run up the firm flesh of her legs and he quickly rises up to her face, digging into the plump globes of her ass and drawing a sigh from her when he lifts her into the air. The room swirls and he’s on the bed and she’s straddling him with focused, hungry eyes. She’s rushing to help him undo his pants when something else falls and everything seems to stop at the soft thud against the carpet.</p><p>  Zelda tosses her hair behind her in a glorious motion as she leans over to pick it up. He rises to kiss at her exposed shoulder and she coos and he’s worked his way over to where her shoulder meets her neck when she comes back up and he sees what she’s holding. His panting slows as he lowers himself back on the bed and he watches as Zelda stares at the photo of the girl who shares her name.</p><p>  Her eyes are wide but betray no emotion. Link breathes slowly and something forgotten tries to claw its way back through the fog. Zelda stares for a while longer before she leans in to press a slow, almost reverent kiss to the photo’s surface, her eyes fluttering shut as she does so before delicately placing the frame back in its place aboard the bedside table. She gazes at him with such open adoration and Link’s panting and they pounce on each other again.</p><hr/><p>  Her breasts are smaller. Link kneads them in his hands and hears her squeak as he plants his lips in the river between them before moving to take a nipple in his mouth.</p><p>  They’re slick with sweat and the air is heavy with its scent. She’s on him in a way <em>she </em>never was and together they’re a mess of tangled limbs and murmurs and gasps twisting in the damp sheets. The light catches the contours of her body, the dip of her back or the flex of an arm muscle and he marvels at the excellence of it all. She’s lithe, slender in a way that <em>she</em> isn’t and livelier, more eager to get in there and explore. Her feet dangle in the air and she pants as she laps at the ripples of his abdomen, excited, wet sounds as she playfully fondles and strokes the length of him with her fingers and she glances up in hunger each time he groans. He pulls her up to him and she giggles at the force in it.</p><p>  Hours later and he’s filling her, her eyes shot and her mouth open in a silent scream as she arches up into him. Experimentally he bears down on her, almost crushing her with his weight and her legs squeeze him deeper as his vision fills with blue. His fingers slide down the small of her back, running over the dimples there before he holds firm and grunts with each thrust. Smacks of flesh upon flesh gradually fill the air and her arm spasms around his other wrist and he gladly grants her the anchor.</p><p>  She strokes tenderly at his face with her other hand, her bangs flinging droplets of sweat in his face as he ruts into her. She stares slack-jawed into his eyes, her own full of awe.</p><p>  “I wanted you,” she murmurs and her gaze fogs with each thrust, “I wanted you from the moment I saw you.”</p><p>  Link slows for a moment and the fear clouded by pleasure is there in an instant, in the shakiness of her breath. He stares into her and nods, almost to himself.</p><p>  “I wanted you too.”</p><p>  Her eyes dilate and a broken squeal escapes her lips, quickly drowned out by the violent creaking of the bedframe as Link drives into her again and again.</p><hr/><p>  The lamp’s still on. He sits hunched and naked by the bedside table. She’s there behind him, lying on the flat of her stomach with her eyes peacefully shut, serviced and spent and wonderful and awful. He can’t look. The silence is deafening, the sweat drying in the dull gleam and his hands clenched on either side of him in the sheets.</p><p>  He wordlessly pulls the photo frame down onto its face.</p><hr/><p>  He waits for his coffee, sitting alone in his favorite spot right next to the window where the light seeps through as excited murmurs echo inside coffeeshop. It’s slowly begun to pick up on popularity, just as the tournament’s nearing its end. End. It all seems so quick now. All those matches Link can’t remember. He might have to make some up before he gets back home. Home. He flinches at the thought.</p><p>  Something catches the light, flashing for a moment in his periphery. Platinum hair. She was already sitting there, chatting excitedly with her friends when he snuck in. She might not even know he’s here. Then again, she knows this is his favorite spot. His eyes bore into the back of her head and he wonders if she can feel it.</p><p>  “Looking sharp as ever there, friend.” Ren’s voice bursts through his thoughts as he places the mug in front of him.</p><p>  Link nods affirmatively. Ren shoots him a small smile and goes to leave.</p><p>  “Hey.”</p><p>  Ren turns, brow raised. “Hm?”</p><p>  “…How does this work? The next season, I mean.”</p><p>  “I’m new here myself, remember?” His lips quirk knowingly, “But from what I’ve gathered, if there’s a new season announced then you get another letter and I get another letter, and the rest is-“</p><p>  “If?”</p><p>  Ren blinks. “There’s never a guarantee. The big guy likes to keep certain things a surprise, so really you never know if there’ll be another tournament until there is.”</p><p>  “What happens if there isn’t?”</p><p>  Ren smiles daringly. “Then I guess it really would be goodbye. That’d be a shame.”  </p><p>  “Hm.” Link almost loses himself in thought before his eye catches his drink. “What’s…?”</p><p>  “Figured I’d mix things up a little this time,” Ren says, “A little cream and sugar here and there never hurt anyone, did it?” He winks before responding to another table’s call.</p><p>  Link frowns at the surface, a tan, rich color. He hesitates before taking a sip. It is unfortunately very sweet. He cringes as the hot liquid settles in his stomach.</p><p>  His eyes are drawn back to Zelda, her form hidden beneath the cape and the pauldrons and the tiara. That elegant shape he knows so well now. She knows him too. He thinks of what they did, saw, touched, tasted and he shudders. Everything is just out there now, in the open, and all the guilt and secrecy seemed to get thrown out in the process. Is that all it was? Getting it out of his system? Hers?</p><p>  …What happens when they go back to where they belong?</p><p>  Ren’s at her table. He says something and she laughs pleasantly, drowned out by the murmur of the shop and no, there shouldn’t be another tournament, another mansion, never again. He will not answer that invitation.</p><p>  Ren’s withdrawal from the table brings Link back to the present and he almost jumps. Eyes, big and blue and piercing right into his own. His chest hitches.</p><p>  He won’t accept that letter. He won’t come back.</p><p>  A moment passes and she smiles, peaceful and full and filled with understanding. His throat wells up and all the guilt, the secrecy, the sin, the love. It was always there. Her smile wavers and she turns back to her friends and it’s like she takes it all with her. Link stares for a while longer before glancing over to the pale sun rising above the mansion where everything happened.</p><p>  He won’t do it. He won’t. He <em>won’t. </em>He…won’t.</p><p>  Link’s sigh withers out of him, and he sinks into his seat. He takes another sip of his coffee, rich and tan and irrevocably changed. The sweetness is less painful.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Well, glad I got that out of my system! Thanks for reading, and special thanks to those who've left feedback thus far.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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